Tag: recipe

Recipe: Crock Pot Pork Chop Rice Casserole

Nick MomrikLeave a comment

I always loved a baked pork chop rice casserole meal my Mom would make at home. I don’t think I requested anything more often when I lived at home or would visit more often. If the family wasn’t around when it was time to eat, they’d be lucky if I left any rice for them. She’d have to cook the pork chops first and they often ended up dry after baking, but nobody really cared, because this dish was all about the rice.

A few weeks ago Mom came across a crock pot version and said I had to try it. It’s even easier to make than the baked version because there is no prep work and the pork chops come out a lot more moist. I tried it last night. Success!

Crock Pot Pork Chop Rice Casserole

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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It may not look like much, but this is the best rice dish I’ve ever had.

The actual recipe calls for 2-3 pounds of pork chops, but I think that’s way too much, so I’ve adjusted below. I used about 1.2 pounds and cooked for almost 3 hours on high. I prefer to crock pot on low, but didn’t have the time for my first attempt.

Credit: recipesthatcrock.com

Ingredients

  • 1.2 – 1.5 lbs boneless pork chops
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 1 Cup Long-Grain Long Cooking Rice (not minute rice!)
  • 10.5 oz Can Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 10.5 oz Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 1 1/4 Cups Water
  • 1.1 oz Package Onion Soup/Dip Mix
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Seasoning Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

  1. Place chops evenly on the bottom of the crock.
  2. Stir together remaining ingredients until blended well.
  3. Spread over top of chops.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 or high for 2-3 hours. (Note: Time may vary, dish is done when your chops are tender and the rice has absorbed the liquid.)

Taco Salad

Nick Momrik1 Comment

taco-salad

Taco Salad

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb of ground beef/turkey/chicken
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • Minced garlic
  • Taco seasoning
  • Cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Hot sauce (optional)
  • 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (I bought a can which also had jalapeños)
  • 4 oz can of diced green chiles
  • Romaine lettuce
  • 1-2 Avocados

Instructions

  1. Throw your protein in a pan over high-ish heat.
  2. While the meat is cooking, dice up the onion.
  3. When the meat is browned and cooked through you can drain out any grease if you want. I leave it in.
  4. Add some minced garlic, taco seasoning, and the diced onion. How much? Up to you. 🙂 I have a big container of taco seasoning so just sprinkled some around. Most people will probably use a packet from the store. I have minced garlic in a bottle, so I gave it 3 little squirts, which was maybe a teaspoon.
  5. Add some cayenne pepper and/or hot sauce if you want. I didn’t measure.
  6. Mix it all together and cook until the onion becomes translucent.
  7. Add the tomatoes and green chiles.
  8. Cook for another 5-7 minutes to let all of the flavors combine.

I ate mine on a bed of romaine lettuce with half of a mashed avocado on top.

Crock-Pot Salsa Chicken

Nick Momrik2 Comments

crockpot-salsa-chicken

Crock-Pot Salsa Chicken

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 16-24 oz salsa (used 24)
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1/2 cup of shredded or chopped carrots (buying matchstick cut carrots worked great)
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery (used one stalk/rib)
  • 1/2 cup of well chopped sweet (Vidalia) onion
  • 1 chopped hot pepper (used 2 jalapeño peppers)
  • 1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper (used 1/2 of an orange bell pepper)
  • Minced garlic to your taste (optional)
  • 1/3 cup water (optional)
  • Avocado on the side (optional)
  • Sour cream on the side (optional)

Directions

  1. Add about 1/3 of the salsa to the Crock-Pot.
  2. Place chicken breasts on top of the salsa.
  3. Sprinkle the taco seasoning evenly over the chicken.
  4. Mix all of the vegetables and garlic in a bowl and then spread them out them over the chicken.
  5. Pour the remaining salsa over everything.
  6. Add the water. You can add the water to the emptied salsa jar and shake it up to get everything out.  I’d probably skip the water next time I make this though because there is enough liquid from the salsa, especially if you use a 24 oz jar.
  7. Set the Crock-Pot to low and cook for 6-8 hours. The chicken is done when you can easily pull it apart with forks, spoons, tongs, or whatever you have handy. I had it in there for about 6 hours and 45 minutes.
  8. Either shred the chicken in the Crock-Pot and mix everything together, or cut the breasts into your preferred serving sizes. (As you can see in the picture, I shredded the chicken)
  9. Serve with some avocado and/or sour cream if you like.

Credit: Katie at Survival Fitness

crockpot-salsa-chicken-plated

Low Fat Protein Bar Recipe

Nick Momrik24 Comments

Protein bars can be a great source of energy.  They can also be very expensive and taste like crap. I must have looked through 50 recipes online over the weekend looking for a good one. Most of this recipe is from one I found at Stella’s Kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups quick oats
  • 1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
  • 4 scoops protein powder (I used chocolate)
  • 1/4 cup flax seeds
  • 1 cup sugar free maple syrup
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup natural applesauce (unsweetened)

Directions

  1. Beat the egg whites in a bowl
  2. Mix the egg whites with the orange juice, applesause, syrup, and vanilla
  3. In another bowl mix the oats, dry milk, protein powder, and flax seeds
  4. Add the liquid mix to the dry mix and stir until everything is completely worked together. It will turn out similar to cookie dough.
  5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
  6. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray
  7. Spread batter into the dish
  8. Bake for 25-30 minutes
  9. Allow to completely cool and then cut into bars
  10. Store some of the bars in an airtight container and some in the freezer

Nutrition

I did some quick calculations for the ingredients I used and came up with a total of:

  • 2240 calories
  • 326g of carbohydrates
  • 176g of protein
  • 39g of fat
  • 45g of fiber

I cut my pan into 12 bars which gives the following per bar:

  • 187 calories
  • 27g of carbohydrates
  • 15g of protein
  • 3g of fat
  • 4g of fiber

Notes

You can easily leave out the flax seeds or add other ingredients to the mix. I plan to add nuts and maybe some raisins or dried fruit with my next batch.

You can cut back on the amount of applesauce if you want bars that aren’t as moist. With 1/3 cup of applesauce, the consistency comes out somewhere between cake and a granola bar. The baking time also probably has something to do with this. I had my first batch in the oven for about 27 minutes and the edges were just starting to become crusty.

If you try alternatives or have suggestions for improvements, leave a comment.